Articles and methods for the high-energy desorption/ionization of various
compositions are disclosed. Methods of the invention utilize porous
substrates, optionally in combination with one or more surface coatings
and fillers, to provide enhanced desorption of analytes. Such enhanced
desorption is particularly useful in fields of analysis such as mass
spectrometry. This enhanced desorption has various utilities. For
example, use of the porous substrate may allow desorption to be performed
without the use of chemical matrices.